It is well known in the field of subterranean well drilling and completion that relatively fine particulate materials may be produced during the production of hydrocarbons from a well that traverses an unconsolidated or loosely consolidated formation. Numerous problems may occur as a result of the production of such particulate. For example, the particulate causes abrasive wear to components within the well, such as tubing, pumps and valves. In addition, the particulate may partially or fully clog the well creating the need for an expensive workover. Also, if the particulate matter is produced to the surface, it must be removed from the hydrocarbon fluids using surface processing equipment.
One method for preventing the production of such particulate material is to gravel pack the well adjacent to the unconsolidated or loosely consolidated production interval. In a typical gravel pack completion, a sand control screen is lowered into the wellbore on a work string to a position proximate the desired production interval. A fluid slurry including a liquid carrier and a relatively coarse particulate material, such as sand, gravel or proppants which are typically sized and graded, is then pumped down the work string and into the well annulus formed between the sand control screen and the perforated well casing or open hole production zone.
The liquid carrier either flows into the formation, returns to the surface by flowing through a wash pipe, or both. In either case, the gravel is deposited around the sand control screen to form the gravel pack, which is highly permeable to the flow of hydrocarbon fluids but blocks the flow of the fine particulate materials carried in the hydrocarbon fluids. As such, gravel packs can successfully prevent the problems associated with the production of these particulate materials from the formation.
In other cases, it may be desirable to stimulate the formation by, for example, performing a formation fracturing and propping operation prior to or simultaneously with the gravel packing operation. Hydraulic fracturing of a hydrocarbon formation is sometimes necessary to increase the permeability of the formation adjacent the wellbore. According to conventional practice, a fracture fluid such as water, oil, oil/water emulsion, gelled water or gelled oil is pumped down the work string with sufficient volume and pressure to open multiple fractures in the production interval. The fracture fluid may carry a suitable propping agent, such as sand, gravel or proppants, into the fractures for the purpose of holding the fractures open following the fracturing operation.
It has been found, however, that following formation treatment operations, the fluid inside the sand control screen tends to leak off into the adjacent formation. This leak off not only results in the loss of the relatively expensive fluid into the formation, but may also result in damage to the gravel pack around the sand control screen and damage to the formation. This fluid leak off is particularly problematic in cases where multiple production intervals within a single wellbore require treatment as the fluid remains in communication with the various formations for an extended period of time.
Existing sand control devices may be expensive and complex tools that must be fit into the relatively restrictive geometry inside a wellbore. The complexity of the tools may make them unreliable. Furthermore, the sizes of the tools (smaller inner diameter for given outer diameter, or larger outer diameter for given inner diameter) may make them undesirable for various applications, such as having an inner diameter that is too small to allow service tools or concentric production equipment to be run inside the screen, or an outer diameter to large to allow effective placement of gravel or frac packs around the device.